248 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES AND OBSERVATIONS. 
XXX V.—WMiscellaneous notices and observations. 
Fossil Fish in Magnesian Limestone at Fulwell Hill.—There 
has recently occurred, in the Magnesian Limestone at Fulwell, 
some interesting examples of Fossil Fish. The specimens’ 
belong to three, or probably four species of Palconiscus, and to 
a single species of Acrolepis. Those of the former genus, are 
by far the most common, and nearly all of them belong to one 
species. Specimens of Acrolepis are exceedingly rare. Being 
satisfied that three of the species of Palxoniscus are new, I have 
provisionally described them in the “ Annals and Magazine of 
Natural History,” April, 1862, under the names of Palaoniscus 
varians, P. latus, and P. Abbsii. All the Paleonisci are small, 
the largest not being more than four inches in length. Along 
with the Fish have been found traces of Plants. These are 
rare ; and, as might have been expected, not so well preserved 
as the Fish ; they possess enough character, however, to show 
that they are the remains of terrestrial and not of marine vegeta- 
tion. Most of these Fossils are found in a bed of slaty and 
laminated limestone, not more than two feet thick, and only a 
short distance from the base of the ‘“‘ Upper Limestone.” The 
occurrence of Fish in this sub-division is of some importance, 
for no animal remains of higher organization than Mollusca had 
been previously known to exist in it ; nearly all the vertebrata 
of the Permian Series of this district being confined to the Marl 
Slate, which is near the bottom of the formation. They are, in 
fact, the last—as far as we know—of Paleozoic vertebrates ; 
and those which approach nearest in time to the higher forms of 
life in the succeeding or Mesozoic epoch. I may add, that on a 
future occasion, I hope to lay a fuller account of these dis- 
coveries before the club.—J. W. Kirkby, June, 1862. 
Scarcity of Lepidoptera in 1861.—This year has been most re- 
markable, in this neighbourhood as elsewhere, for the unusual 
scarcity of Lepidoptera, even of the commonest species. The 
dates of their first appearance are also very much later than the 
usual ones, owing, I imagine, to the effects of the unprecedented 
cold and wet season of 1860. 
